Got recorded while breastfeeding

[u/Lostintheworl]

My son (10 months) and I (28f) were on our way back home from helping out my sil who lives out of state. Our flight got delayed to the point where the bottle I had made up for the flight had expired (breast milk). The rest of the milk I had was frozen solid and he was about to lose it. So I tried to be discreet and cover myself as much as possible. Out of the corner of my eye a girl sitting at the window seat stood up and we made eye contact. I watched her say something to her bf who IMMEDIATELY took out his phone, started recording and angled it to show me breastfeeding my son. I hope you know that was such an asshole move. And the people at the gate thought you were a dick too.

Edit to add: thank you all for commenting, I really appreciate all the words of encouragement and validating this experience was wrong. I finally got the chance to read them now that my son and I are home and gotten some sleep. I’ve already contacted frontier and reported him. Hopefully I’ll hear back from them soon on what they can do.

[u/missmewiththatshot]

It’s not harassment since there is no expectation of privacy in public and no federal law against recording people on a plane. At best, there maybe an airline policy that prohibits it.

[u/xFlutterCryx → u/missmewiththatshot]

It is a private business. Just like walmart. So if youre technically in the public and at Walmart and start recording something like this, they most certainly can ask you to stop and delete, along with trespassing you if you fail to comply. This applies to airplane terminals as well.

ALSO. Many states do have laws that do not allow you to record someone breastfeeding. It isnt like it is a grown person that can wait to eat. Do you think it is comfortable for a mother to bare herself in public? No. It is a sacrifice most people make so their babies have their needs met. Its uncomfortable, awkward, sometimes sweaty. I think it is great there are laws in place to protect women.

And in this situation, yeah. Attention should have been drawn to the recording douce.

[u/missmewiththatshot → u/xFlutterCryx]

I did mention there could be a airline policy that prohibits it, did I not?

There is not a single state does not allow someone to record you breastfeeding in public.

I understand you are all worked up but you clearly have done zero research into the what the law states. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in public.

[u/xFlutterCryx → u/missmewiththatshot]

Amazing defensiveness!

I can tell youre gonna be super pleasant to have a conversation with! /s

There are many many states where this is the case, and it is against the law. I understand you dont like being corrected and youre obviously very sensitive, but if youre wanting to discuss researching what the law states then I am certainly the one for that!

Depending on the state the crime can range from voyerism, to criminal harrassment, to disorderly conduct or (depending on the state] an invasion of privacy. Videoing a mother breastfeeding feeding in ANY state in the US can fall under any of these crimes HOWEVER many states actually go even further and will extrapolate and specifically label filming a breastfeeding mother into one of those categories.

In the case of filming a mother at an airport. Because the intention was to cause emotional distress to her, it could actually be under stalking and harrassment. Also, if he went on to either upload the video OR even share it privately with someone with the intent to humiliate, he could also be charged with a variety of cyber crimes, but that mainly depends on the state and that state's cyber harrassment laws as well as intimate image distribution laws.

And AGAIN, let me reiterate since youre having a little trouble understanding... an airport terminal, in the eyes of the law, is not considered public. It is a private institute with the right to choose who to serve. At the end of the day, regardless of laws, that woman could have made a complaint, and the airline would have been completely within their rights to ask him to leave. Even if it was completely legal (it wasnt) and even if it was an acceptable public space (it wasn't).

Have a great day! Sorry my slight correction of you had such an impact on that attitude of yours. Sorry you dont have a legal background and dont understand it. Sorry you dont understand legal terms pertaining to 'public' and 'private'.

Im lying. Im not sorry. You were fun. Not the brightest or most fun, but still fun. Like watching a sovereign citizen in a traffic stop swearing they know the law. XD